


Retrogression

by HyperKey



Series: DBH Oneshots [9]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Whump
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-02
Updated: 2018-09-18
Packaged: 2019-07-06 02:17:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15876429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HyperKey/pseuds/HyperKey
Summary: 'Retrogression is the process of returning to an earlier state, typically a worse one.' - Connor hadn't thought he would everhaveto learn what that meant.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This... was actually a oneshot and it turned into a huge plotbunny... and here we have it. huzzah.
> 
> It gets bad before it gets better. 
> 
> Comments and feedback are always appreciated. I live on them D:

Hank couldn’t control his shaking hands as he watched his partner’s body go up in flames. There was too much happening at once.  It was hard to breathe, even though he was outside and a significant distance away from the fire. He felt sick, as if someone had punched him in the gut.

But that wasn’t it.

Watching Gavin and Chris attack the flaming body with white gusts of the fire extinguishers felt surreal. Both of his colleagues looked as terrified as he felt. His partner’s body had shot up in flames almost out of nowhere.

Almost.

Hank knew it was going to happen because Connor had warned him minutes before.

Hank hadn’t even fully realized what Connor was telling him when he felt the heat radiating from the android and his frantic attempts the get out of the thick winter jacket and his shirt. Seconds after that he was sitting on the floor, granting access to the most delicate part of his body to the man he trusted the most.

All in a desperate attempt to save his own life.

A cold shiver raced down Hank’s spine and his hands closed a fraction tighter around the device he was holding. He had dislodged the device just seconds before the overheating caused the body to burst into flames.

Hank could still smell the burning plastic and wires. It didn’t help better the queasy feeling in his stomach.

Gavin came over to him when he noticed all color leaving the Lieutenants face, while Chris worked on the last bits of fire.

“….You injured?” The detective asked, tried hard to keep the trembling out of his voice. He failed. Hank heard it clearly.

“No.” Hank couldn’t utter more than that. He knew he was shaking, he knew he needed to sit down, but he found that he was rooted to the ground, unable to even take a single step.

Gavin’s eyes flew to the object in Hanks hands. It was smaller than a handball, various connections to be attached to it and it resembled something Gavin had seen multiple times in his life, most from the times he had argued with his brother. A motherboard in the general sense, only shaped differently.

A processing unit.

“….That….” Gavin gestured to the object and Hank noticed that his hands were trembling as well. The detective swallowed hard after he had said the words as if to force bile down, Hank also noticed that his face had gotten significantly paler. “That… Connor?”

Hank nodded once and cleared his throat. He didn’t trust his voice. “… _ordered_ me to take it out before it happened…”

Gavin blew a few tiny stray strands of hair out of his forehead and ran a hand over his face. “Fucking prick, scaring us like that.”

Hank frowned and glared at the younger man. “I practically ripped his brain out.”

Gavin shook his head, color returning to his face. “These things are built like tanks. Long as you don’t shoot them or bash them in.”

That made Hank feel relieved, if only for a bit. He didn’t bother to question how Gavin knew that.

“I called Cindy-“ Chris announced as he walked over to them. Gavin filled him in on the situation and Hank just sat down on the edge of the sidewalk.

He didn’t care.

At some point they had covered Connors charred body with someone’s jacket. It made Hanks stomach turn even more. He was holding Connor in his hands, but the realization that his body was only a part of him came late. It was strange, painful.

Realizing Connor was a machine after all… no matter how human he seemed, no matter how happy he got over playing with Sumo or how sad he could get when Hank spoke about Cole.

None of this had ever helped to take away the illusion that Connor was just a machine. A highly advanced Artificial Intelligence. But still just a fancy computer. It hurt thinking about him like that, while holding him in his hands. The very parts that made Connor who he was. His whole being, contained in a  small bundle of chips and wires.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and blinked away the tears threatening to jump into his eyes.

Chris had crouched next to the Lieutenant, one hand on his shoulder in a silent gesture of comfort as Gavin went to guide the car of the technician through the alleys.

When Cindy stood in front of Hank twenty minutes later, he could see a look of utter shock on her face. Her eyes went wide, and she shook her head with an exasperated sigh before she regained her composure and crouched in front of Hank.

“He knew you were going to do this?” Was the first thing she said to Hank.

Hank nodded. “Practically begged me to do it…”

Cindy visibly relaxed. “Good… that’s good. He would have shut down the important connections then.” She nodded to herself.

“Come on, get in my car. I can’t help him here.”

Hank was slow to comply, having difficultly to get back up without taking the hands off the processor. Chris and Cindy helped him up and to her car and when he was settled inside she had walked over to Connors  body, looked over it once and shook her head. He couldn’t hear her words, but he was sure that she was tell him Chris and Gavin what Hank already knew.

That body was done for. There was no saving it, and no replacement.

His thoughts drifted off and he jumped when Cindy settled down in her car.  “Okay,” She began. “We can’t leave him without a body for longer than 48 hours. I have one I can modify to be able to house him.”

“Do it.” Hank muttered without any emotion. He blinked in surprise when he realized that Cindy was already driving.

“You’re in shock.” She muttered silently.

“No shit.”

“I’m sorry Hank. It looks bad, but trust me, this isn’t as bad as it looks. You saved his life.”

Hank scoffed and eyes the processor in his hands. “Easy for you to say, you’re not holding a brain in your hands.”

The woman chuckled a bit and pulled over to the roads that promised to take them to Canada. “You have your ID on you?”

“Yeah why?”

“Because I live in Canada you idiot.” She teased him, tried to lighten the mood.

He smirked. “Right. You never told me why you’re allowed to work on androids _there_.”

She flashed him a sweet smile. “I’m just _that_ important to the government.”

That earned her a genuine laugh of the Lieutenant, even when it sounded forced. “But seriously, how are you able to work your job in Canada?”

She smiled weakly then shrugged. “My husband. Since we had to move because of his job, but I refused to give up mine. So we got a little special treatment, with a lot of conditions.” The technician explained. “And I work in Detroit. Not in Canada.”

Hank hummed in response, figuring that it made sense that people would be laxer about it then.

“You ever been to Canada?” She asked curiously.

Hank shrugged. “Been a while.”

They arrived at a small bungalow style house half an hour later and Hank found that it looked rather new. Recently built. For a brief moment he wondered how much money Cindy actually got form her job, then he forced his attention back to the problem at hand. In hand- Hank scoffed at the thought.

Cindy had been able to calm him significantly with her upbeat personality, despite the gravity of the situation.

When she unlocked the front door of the house he was immediately greeted by a dog. An Australian Shepherd, if his knowledge on dog-breeds didn’t fail him. The dog sniffed at him and Hank would have held a hand out to the animal if he hadn’t been holding the processor.

“I’m sure Sumo would love Ugo.”

“Ugo? Form that one show?”

Cindy laughed and closed the front door, slipped her shoes off and then gestured for Hank to follow her. “Mark got Avery interested in it before we got him.”

“Reminds me of how Sumo got his name.” Hank muttered silently and followed her down a long hallway to a door at the end.

She opened it by entering a code into a keypad and held the door open for him. He stepped inside and found himself in a white tiled room that looked like a doctor’s office rather than a room that should be in a residential building.

She set a red plastic box on what appeared to be an examination table and put a microfiber cloth at the bottom of it, then she put on a white lab coat and grabbed a pair of blue gloves.

“Put the processor in the box and sit down. I’ll go fetch the body.”

Hank was at a point where he didn’t bother questioning her. He much rather would have left the room and played with the dog, if only to get his mind off what was happening. He felt awfully detached to the processor in the box.

There was no telling that this was Connor. If Hank hadn’t held it in his hands the whole time, he wouldn’t even know if this was his friend or not. _There was just no telling._ Except maybe to the small engraving that Hank couldn’t quite read because it was so tiny. _He really needed to get his eyes checked._

Cindy returned not much later with a body hauled over her shoulder. It was rather small; no skin overlay and thus white plastic beneath visible. It was shinier than any android without Skin overlay he had ever seen. Except maybe Connor himself. His partner had explained that it was because of his young age.

That had been the first time Hank had realized that Connor was just a few months old. Five now.  His gaze wandered back to the Android Cindy had brought in.

LED ring gray, back of the skull missing and rather empty looking.

“….A kid?” Hank hissed both in confusion and anger.

Cindy shrugged. “That’s the only body I have available. And we are on a time limit here.”

She placed the body face down onto the table after she had moved the red box to a counter behind her. “Think of it as Connor in a smaller body. That’s really all there is. Since his processor is intact he won’t change.”

Hank shook his head but had to agree. He had no choice. There as no replacement body for Connor, so this had to be done one way or another. And it wasn’t that Hank could decide over Connors head anyway. The android was his own person. He often happened to ask Hank for advice, but all in all Connor was perfectly capable to getting by in his own and making his own decisions.

Cindy smiled as she opened a drawer and took a small plastic box filled with various tools. Hank was always surprised at how clean cyberlife equipment was. A car repair shot was always greasy and dirty, but people working on androids handled their equipment like dentists.

“You can get yourself some coffee if you want. I’m sure Ugo would love the company.”

Hank took the hint and glanced at the red box once more, before he nodded and left the room.

When the door closed Cindy dropped her smile and closed her eyes with a deep sigh. “You are one hell of a trouble maker, Connor…” She whispered as she gently took the processor from the box and fitted it into the exposed inner workings of the head in the YK500 model.

All processors had standard measurements, it was possible to fit any of them into another model, but that rarely went without complications. She had never heard of a regular android being fitted into a YK500, and there was a much bigger issue with the current case.

The RK800 had a vastly different sensor net from the RK800 and yet they operated in a very similar way.

Cindy made quick work of it, fixed some glitches and minor bugs and rerouted sensor arrays so they wouldn’t run into nothing. It wouldn’t change the fact that Connor would be in massive discomfort until he got used to the new sensors.

It would overwhelm him, and the model she had on hand had its own bugs and issues. She had fixed most of them, but she could never get into the settings to turn off certain aspects of the model. It would always sense temperature, pain and simulate sicknesses. It was why she had taken Avery’s processor out of it and put it into an inactive unit without bugs.

Avery had been grateful for it. And now all Cindy had was the bugged body of a child-android. But she had no choice. It would only be temporary once Hank got his hands on a new RK800, probably.

_If there was still one around._

Hank returned to the room thirty minutes later, his pants covered in dog fur. Cindy had just reconnected all open ports and closed the skull. It was still a lifeless hull and Hank glared at her.

“…You think he’ll be okay with that?”

Cindy shook her head. “Hank, before I reboot him, I have to tell you a lot of things about the body itself.”

He raised and eyebrow and crossed his arms, then leaned against the wall behind him. “I know they get sick.”

The woman smirked and opened another drawer. In it there was a copy of the YK500 manual, still packaged into foil, never opened. Not that she needed to read it. She had most manuals drilled into her head.

“This is Avery’s old body. I have already adjusted appearance and voice, but this body has some major issues.” She clawed at the clingwrap and freed the book-sized tablet from it before she removed the protective foil advertising it as the manual and powered it up.

“That’s why I transferred Avery into a new YK500 and kept this body around as a spare.”

“You put Connor in a broken body?”

She shook his head. “It’s not broken, it has bugs and glitches that can’t be fixed. I’ll give you a list, so you know what to look for, okay?”

“Why’d your kid have a body like this?”

A deep sigh escaped the woman and she placed the manual on the counter. “Avery was attacked by teenagers before I found him. I took him in and tried to repair his body. It works, the bugs are not that bad once you know what to look for, but they can get really annoying. I wouldn’t do this if I have another choice, but since cyberlife keeps tabs on whoever buys their androids this is currently our best bet.”

The older man snarled but he had to accept it.

Cindy nodded and jotted down notes on a sheet of paper. “Despite all its bugs, this is one of the latest YK500 models with most upgrades.”

“That means?”

“That means,” Cindy continued, “That this baby here he the most advanced YK500 you’ll ever put your hands on.” She grinned and patted the android’s shoulder as if it was a preowned car.

The man glared at her. “I hope you know how wrong that sounded.”

She heaved an exaggerated sigh and smirked. “The main issue is the sensor array and the temperature sensitivity. They cannot be adjusted. On top of that, it needs to breathe and prevent it from doing so can have severe consequences.”

Hank grumbled. “Like?”

The woman leaned against the counter and shrugged. “Memory loss, loss of functions, senses, sensors or even total shutdown. But, if it actually happens, CPR works on the YK500, so there’s that.”

“This is fucked up.” Hank growled in her direction.

“It also simulates the need for food. Which _also_ can’t be turned off, due to the bugs.”

Hank frowned, scooted over a chair and sat down next to Cindy. “Hold on. They can eat?”

Cindy nodded. “The technology was implemented some time last year. Compared to a human it’s pretty crude and doesn’t serve any real purpose, but since I can’t turn it off, you need to feed him. Otherwise the body will react to that.”

“Which means?”

“Simulation of starving.”

The lieutenant snarled and shook his head. “Fine. Special food or anything?”

“Long as you’d eat it it’s fine, but don’t start out with that. The body is completely flushed clean of anything that was in there. Start out with baby food for the first few days, that worked really well on Avery to get used to it. Also needs water to flush that stuff back out. It’s in the manual too.”

Hank shook his head and rubbed his temples. This seemed way more trouble than it was worth, so far.  “So … in normal kids you can turn that off?”

Cindy nodded. “There’s also the malfunction in the temperature sensor. The body can’t adjust it properly. It works to a point, but he will react pretty fast when it gets too warm or too cold.”

Hank was tired of it. He couldn’t feel attached to the body lying on that table. It was undressed, without overlay lying face down in the table and cables and tubes inserted into various ports.

“Also, I only had red thirium on hand, because of Avery. It’s the same chemical composition, it just has a different color and is called Thirium 312.”

“Why…?” Was all Hank could ask then. It was too much now. First, he almost lost his partner, now he was in e child’s body that was completely broken and then he learned about red thirium.

“Because Avery goes to a normal school with normal kids and when he gets hurt and bleeds blue in the middle of Canada, guess what would happen.”

The older man nodded at that. That at least made sense.

“You can swap it for the regular thirium 310 gradually if needed.”

He nodded again. His head was pounding. The few minutes with her dog had calmed him a bit, but now that the stress was subsiding he felt the strain and the emotional shock. He hadn’t even fully registered, yet that Connor had almost died, and that now he was in a new body. He needed a few days off after this.

Cindy slotted a cable into the android’s LED and connected it to a terminal. “Also, I’m going to be blunt, Connor has a lot of sensor arrays, but they are not nearly as advanced as those in child models. He _is_ going to feel like shit for the first few days. Not right away, but gradually getting worse before it gets better.”

“Great to know that.”

Cindy gave him a humorless smile and opened a cabinet. She took out a clear box and filled it with various items. “I’ll give you some things to help him ease that discomfort, if needed. They have side effects, so use them with caution.”

Hank raised his eyebrows as she packed tiny cardboard packs of things that looked like medication into the plastic box. They all had a tiny blue triangle on them, obviously for android use. She told him about their usage and scribbled notes onto the packages.

An hour later Hank was still sitting on the chair, now with a cardboard box of boy clothing next to him and something pulled at his heart. Cindy had dressed the body in a white t-shirt and faded jeans, tiny white socks and a pair of black Velcro sneakers because she didn’t have many spare pairs of shoes that would have fitted.

The skin overlay had returned to the body and Hank was almost surprised that it looked vastly similar to Connor. Cindy had blabbed about only needing to copy the data already provided to accomplish that, but Hank still found it interesting. He was also relieved. Connor didn’t look similar to Cole. Not eve as a child. It was calming. He wasn’t sure if he could have handled that.

“You ready?” Cindy’s sudden question made him jump.

He wasn’t ready. But Connor needed to be online again. “…Is he going to remember what happened?”

Cindy shook her head. “I deleted the temporary memory files from the incident.” She held up a hand when Hank was about to argue. “If I didn’t do that, the second he would boot up he’d set the body in a state of distress, causing it to shut down on him and traps himself in a loop of rebooting and shutting down. It’s better this way.”

Hank grimaced but accepted the fact and scooted his chair closer. Cindy had turned the body to its back. It looked rather dead, even the LED was still dark.

“The new sensors will overwhelm him, do _not_ touch him.” Hank nodded and sat on his hands to prevent any impulses.

He was strangely excited now. There had been a few instances where he had wondered how Connor would have been like if he had ever experienced childhood, but those thoughts hadn’t entered his mind in the past two hours.

_Had it only been two hours?_

A sudden jolt of the body had Hank flinch. Cindy was already blabbing her nonsense, but Hank tuned it out and watched as two brown eyes sprang open and darted around frantically. Hands opened and closed, chest rose and fell rapidly as he tried to move and sit up but seemed unable to do so.

“Everything is okay, Connor.” Cindy reassured the android. “We had to transfer your processor into a different unit. Your body was beyond repair.”

Cindy’s voice seemed to calm him, and he closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. Hank was almost proud to see that his constant nagging had finally paid off. Even when Connor kept insisting that he didn’t need to breathe, it still had some effect on him when he took effort into doing it.

“I transferred you into a spare YK500 I had. It’s a temporary solution until we have a new unit that can house you. I’ve given Hank everything he needs to help you getting used to this.”

Connor only nodded, otherwise unmoving. Hank noticed how the small fingers traced the material of the metal table below him as if he was feeling something like this for the first time.

“Now the unfun part,” Cindy sighed. “Sit up for me.”

Connor complied slowly, working out how to move the body as he went. “I don’t understand this body-“ He muttered, then grimaced at his voice. “What-“

“Everything is okay.” Cindy reassured him. “I know this isn’t great, but we had to put you into something. And I don’t think you would have liked being connected to an external battery without access to the outside world for weeks.”

“….I don’t know how YK500’s work…!” Connor insisted with a hint of panic in his voice.

He raised his hands off the metal surface below him, clenched them into fists at his chest and tried to make himself smaller than he was. He looked rather young, seven, eight at most. But as Cindy said, the person inside was still the same, he just looked different.

And currently he was getting overwhelmed.

“You’re good, Connor. Everything works as it should, given the glitches I cannot repair. None of them are dangerous if addressed in time. I gave Hank a note with everything important on it. I’ll make a copy for you. Okay?”

 Connor nodded, obviously disliking the situation. “Where are we?” he asked then as he looked around.

“My house.” Cindy smiled brightly and pulled a chair over to the table, so Connor could get down safely. The android made quick work of getting off the table and onto solid ground where he needed a long moment to find his balance. Hank resisted the urge to reach out and steady him.

“….My gyroscopes aren’t calibrated properly-“

“The body has been in storage for a while, most of the systems need to be recalibrated. Do you need help, or can you do this by yourself?”

He snapped around to her and locked her in a death glare that made her laugh. “Okay, okay. Do it yourself then. I’m gonna fill Hank in on the manual.”

Connor turned back around, facing his back to the two humans as he cycled through a series of motions that had Hank watch in awe, while Cindy smiled silently. He went slowly, starting with the hands and arms, then to the legs, slowly paced a few steps and used the wall for support as we went forward and back, then without the wall, then on one leg and the other balancing himself until he as confident he could do it on his own and stepped away from the wall to run the same cycle again, two more times.

While hank was watching him he absentmindedly listened to Cindy. “Hank, this is important, are you listening?”

Hank snapped back to her. “Sorry-“

She sighed. “The YK500 can _feel_ pain. And he isn’t used to it. It will overwhelm him when it happens so be prepared for that.”

“I’m not taping up all edges, that’s still Connor-“ Hank protested, and Cindy sighed.

“You don’t have to do that. I’m just asking you to keep an eye on him if he bumps into things or falls.”

“What’s the worst that could happen?” Hank asked then.

“He’ll pass out from it.”

“Great, already looking forward to that.”

Cindy shrugged. “I’m sorry. I really tried to repair all the additional functions, but it was more trouble than it was worth, so you have to make do with this now.”

“There’s one more issue.” Hank muttered then. “How do I get him across the border?”

Cindy scoffed and turned to the android still cycling through calibration. “Connor come over here.”

The boy complied and walked over to them, pace brisk and stiff, much like Hank remembered it, but in this body,  it looked out of place.

“I’m going to touch your LED now, okay? I have cold hands, that will feel strange.”

He backed away when she reached out. “Why?”

“I’ll deactivate it so you two can get across the border, no questions asked. You can turn it back on by yourself if you want to.”

The young android nodded slowly and stepped closer, winced when Cindy gently placed her index finger on the LED and held it for a few seconds. The light then dimmed and disappeared under the skin overlay.

Hank raised his eyebrows at that and seemed quite impressed.

“I put everything you need to know into the boxes.” Cindy explained as she put the manual and the small box of android medication into the cardboard box with the neatly folded clothing. “Give me a call if anything is going wrong,” She turned to Connor, “That goes for you too. If anything seems strange, tell Hank immediately, okay?”

Connor grimaced and nodded. He still seemed to dislike the whole situation.

As they walked into back into the hall Connor suddenly went down with a whimper as his hands gripped the shirt and he doubled over with a pained and frightened gasp. Hank quickly set the box to the ground and crouched down in front of the boy, unsure what to do.

Cindy rubbed a hand over his back and sighed. “That would be hunger.” She grimaced and stood, went into the kitchen followed by Ugo who had looked at the two strangers but didn’t seem vastly interested.

The woman returned with a small package of shortbread she kept around for her kids. She broke one in two and handed Connor the smaller piece. “Here. Make sure to chew that properly otherwise it’ll come back up again.”

He frowned and stared at her as if she had just told him that she was from Mars.

“Yes, I am serious. This body needs food.”

He was back to glaring at her when he gripped the piece of offered food and eyed it carefully.

He brought the tip of his tongue to the pastry as if to test it, then frowned and carefully bit off a small piece.

His eyes widened as the taste spread over his sensors and he kept moving it around in his mouth for a moment.

After a few seconds he seemed unsure as to what to do with it and stared in shock and surprise when he swallowed it automatically. “…It dissolved!”

Both Cindy and Hank let out a laugh, but Cindy was quick to explain. “That’s what food does. Go look it up when you can.” She handed him the bag of shortbread. “Here, for the drive back. I’ll fill up a bottle of water for you too.”

A few minutes later Hank and Connor were back in Cindy’s car, Connor strapped into Avery’s booster seat and definitely not happy about the whole ordeal. He fumbled with the seatbelt for a while but then lost interest and kept playing with a stray strap hanging out of the cardboard box seated between him and hank on the backseat.

When Cindy drove up to the highway hank dug out his wallet and handed Connor a coin. “Stop fiddling Jesus Christ!”

Connor took the coin without a word and quickly studied it form all sides. He wasn’t tossing it around und Hank was a bit concerned about that fact, but he chose not to ask for now. Maybe he was just trying to get used to the whole deal, and sure enough the steady droning of the car seemed to lull the android into some sort of sleep.

The drive was mostly passed in silence, especially now that Connor was seemingly asleep, and Hank used the time by looking through the manual. Sure enough Cindy parked in front of Hank’s house faster than he had even read the second chapter of the manual.

“So he sleeps now?” Hank asked as Cindy freed Connor from the booster seat and carried him towards the house while Hank took the box and headed for the front door.

“The YK500 Simulates a real child, Hank.” She reminded him.

 Sumo was already bounding up to the door, Hank could hear him bark and when he unlocked the door the big dog almost ran Cindy over who just grinned happily, making sure she got a form grip on Connor before she petted the dog for a moment

“Did you look after the house well? Yes? You’re such a good boy.” Cindy cooed at the dog and laughed silently as he slobbered all over her hand.

She brought Connor inside and place him on the couch as Hank set the box down in the kitchen. His eyes fell onto Cole’s turned down picture and he brushed a finger over the frame before he turned his attention back to Cindy and Connor.

She had grabbed a blanket  from the recliner and tucked the android in, her hand gently brushing through his hair.

“If you need anything, or have any questions, just ask. It’s pretty similar to a real child in some aspects, but totally different in others.”

He just nodded and walked over to her, then drew her into a tight hug. “You’re always doing so much for him, go take care of yourself and your family.” He handed her a sample package of dog treats and smiled almost sheepishly.

“Sumo doesn’t like them, thought Ugo might.”

Cindy grinned at him  and patted his shoulder. “He’ll love them. Thank you too for always keeping me challenged. It does get dull sometimes.” She laughed and headed to the door. “I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”

With that she was gone, and hank settled down on  the recliner, watching the young android in something akin to awe.

“….Who would’ve thought.” He scoffed and shook his head.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea how i manage to write while preparing for midterms. They're tomorrow. Iam nervous and scared. hahaha
> 
> So here have the new chapter! There is a looooot of talking in here. Sorry for that. I hate letting readers wait but there was a lot of shit going on.
> 
> Feed back is appreciated, as always.

Connor blinked into the dim light of the living room, greeted my Sumo’s cold and wet nose in his face. It was strangely more intense than he remembered it ever being. Colder, softer. He reached for the dog’s fur and was nearly overwhelmed by the sensation. Slowly he pulled his hand away again, frowned at how small it was before he remembered that he had been put into a YK500 body.

But he still didn’t know what had happened to his body and why Cindy decided to use this as a spare.

He was almost mad at it. What had made this necessary? Why couldn’t they have waited?

A dim glow from the coffee table had him sit up and move the blanket off him. The sudden loss of warmth felt intense. He instantly lunged for the blanket again and put it back over him before he reached for the glowing magazine. The YK500 manual. Its screensaver had activated showing the cover image.

When he swiped his fingers across the screen it opened on page 34. The page was labeled _chapter two_.

Choosing not to read it he put it back into the table and slipped off the couch. Someone had taken the shoes and put them somewhere else, leaving his feet with gray socks. The t-shirt and Jeans were still present.

Hank’s muffled voice seemed to come from the bedroom. The lights were on.

Connor found himself looking for the clock in his system and was surprised when he couldn’t find it. Assuming it was because of the body he turned to look at the clock in the kitchen.

It was 7:42 pm. He had been in standby for almost three hours.

Frowning he made his way to the hallway, suddenly strangely intimidated by the height of his surroundings. He didn’t like how everything towered over him. Even Sumo now reached up to his elbows.

It was almost overwhelming.

When he reached the bedroom, Hank was sitting on the floor, surrounded by wooden planks and bars, all painted white. He had his phone in his hand, a screwdriver in the other. Obviously on a call.

“Do you really think that is a good idea?” Hank muttered to the person on the other end.

He noticed Connor at the door then and gave him a reassuring smile. Connor wasn’t sure if it was really meant for him. Hank looked upset, maybe even disturbed.

“Jeffrey, I don’t do undercover anymore.” Hank sighed, shook his head and stood.

He walked past Connor but not without gently running a hand through his dark hair. Connor tailed him to the kitchen, curious and confused as to what Hank was even talking about and needing to know more.

“I know this is perfect. It’s too perfect.” Fowler replied something Connor couldn’t hear.

Without his advances scanners and sensors, he was severely limited in his ability. It was annoying to say the least.

“Do you really think busting a bunch of teenage drug dealers is safe for a child?”

Connor crossed his arms in response. He didn’t like how Hank was talking about him. Of course, he was much shorter now and he had lost a great deal of his abilities, but he was still useful!

Hank gave him an apologetic smile as he shrugged and turned back to the counter to pour himself a cup of coffee.

“…Fine I’ll bring him in tomorrow. See it for yourself.” Hank had tried so hard to keep the anger out of his voice, Connor was almost proud of him.

Almost. There was still the fact that Hank had obviously gotten a new case, and Connor wanted to be part of it. He was Hanks partner. He was supposed to be at his side. Although in the current situation, he was easily overwhelmed.

Maybe he was not the best choice for a field case. He was still good for desk jobs.

“Fowler isn’t happy about this.” Hank sighed after he had put the phone down.

“I am not happy about it either.” Connor muttered as he crossed his arms. “Why was I put into this body? Why was mine destroyed? What happened?”

The questions were spoken as rapidly as they entered his mind, his confusion about the situation needing to be stilled.

“I don’t know what really happened. You told me to remove your processor…”

“I can’t access that memory.” A deep frown made its way to Connors face. “Everything from after we arrived on site until I booted up in this body is gone.”

“Cindy said she deleted that memory to take stress off your system or something.” Hank explained while he sipped his coffee and walked back to the kitchen table. “You literally caught fire, kid.”

“…Overheating to the point of going up in flames...” Connor almost mumbled, sounded uncertain. Maybe he was just surprised. “As I can’t access the memory files, I can’t figure out the cause.”

Hank could only shrug. “Cindy might know more tomorrow. They took your body to the station, Ryan already started examining it.”

The android only nodded and pulled the free chair back, Hank eyed him for a moment as he determined the best approach on getting on it. The lieutenant resisted the urge to help und just watched.

Connor managed to get up on it without much struggle, then huffed when he realized that the chair was now too far away from the table and his legs too short to pull it closer. Hank hid his smirk in his mug and wordlessly watched his friend get off the chair and push it closer to the table before he climbed back on.

Once he was seated he looked around for a moment, then let out a deep sigh before he hopped off the chair again, went to the couch and tossed the blankets aside to look for something in between the cushions.

Hank was about to ask what he was searching, when he android found it and returned to the table. Hank watched the chair-struggle with growing amusement but kept quiet and focused on the coin Connor had brought.

Instead of doing tricks with it Connor only held it in his hand, shuffled it around. He never tossed it up, never threw it from one hand to the other.

“Not in the mood for tricks?” Hank eventually asked.

A frustrated frown made its way to Connor’s face. “I am bothered by this situation.” He then spoke, voice strangely firm and clear. No matter how young he sounded now, Hank could still hear his partner speak.

He started to feel guilty. What had he done to his friend? Why had he done it?

“Listen,” Hank sighed, “I’m not happy about this either.”

Conner tilted his head a fraction. The gesture almost went by unnoticed. “But you decided this. I wasn’t asked.”

“What did you expect me to do huh? I had your whole brain in my hands.” Hank hissed.

“Hank how am I supposed to do anything in… in…” Connor fumbled for the words. “This!?” He pulled his sleeve as he climbed up on the chair to be taller. “I can’t scan anything. I can’t analyze! I can’t even access my phone!”

“Connor you were fucking dying!” Hank shot back, got up from his chair so quick that it fell over and clattered to the ground, scaring Sumo in the process who darted back to his bed. “Since when are you that irrational? I saved your fucking life, like you would have done for me!”

“I’d rather be in storage than in this body! I’d rather be replaced!” The android shouted as he jumped off the chair and darted down the hall to lock himself into the bathroom.

“Connor!” Hanks voice faltered as Connors words sunk in.

The young man who had cried in his arms, begged not to be sent back to cyberlife was now wishing to be replaced. Hank couldn’t tell if this was just bottled up emotion finally breaking out or if Connor truly wished for what he had just said.

He sighed and picked his chair back up, gave Sumo a weak smile and opened all kitchen cupboards in search of something he hadn’t used in a while. It took a few minutes until he found the small tin box he was looking for.

It was old, one day it had held gingerbread. The expiration date on it was way back in 1998. He didn’t even remember where he got it from anymore. But the contents had been replaced countless times. Shaking his head, he checked the inside, sighed when he realized it was empty.

Of course, it was.

He scoffed and filed through another cupboard, then found a half-used package of instant hot chocolate that had expired two years ago. Hank shook his head once more and shrugged at Sumo.

“Wanna go for a walk?” he asked the dog.

Sumo only lifted his head at the word, yawned and slowly got up to walk over to the front door. Hank smirked at the dog and knocked at the bathroom door.

“I’m taking Sumo for a walk, wanna come?”

“No!” Connor hissed back at him, voice fierce and full of anger.

“I’ll let you hold the leash.”

“I want to be alone.”

“Connor, I’m sorry.” Hank muttered silently as he leaned against the wall. “…I thought…” He fought for the right words, suddenly feeling clumsy. What was he even trying to say?

“I… Kid… I don’t like having you replaced. I wouldn’t have let Cindy do this if there had been another choice… You’re still you. Okay?”

Hank frowned when there was no immediate reply. He wanted to fill the silence, but he could tell that Connor needed to tell him something too. Something important.

“Hank…” The bathroom door opened a crack and brown eyes peered up at him as if he had seen a ghost. “…I don’t…. _want_ this… I want to go back-“

“I know. Cindy and Fowler are trying to find a new body for you. And we’re taking Sumo now for a walk now.” Hank decided.

“I have no winter clothing.” Connor opened the door completely and crossed his arms.

Hank chuckled at him and shrugged. “You always insist on wearing this thin jacket. February too cold for you?”

The android fixed his gaze on him with a glare Hank thought could kill. “This body is quite sensitive to temperatures.  I am _cold_ , Hank.”

The lieutenant chuckled and turned around to head to door at the end of the hallway. Connor had long since learned that Hank used it as a storage room not to park his car.

“I’m sure there’s a winter coat in there somewhere.”

Connor stopped at the door frame and peeked into the garage, watched Hank open a carboard box and rummage through it. Compared to how Hank usually tidied up, the garage was well organized. Every box was labelled and easily accessible, almost as if Hank thought he would need them ever again.

The thought sent a piercing sting through Connor’s chest. An emotion he couldn’t name, but it hurt. Hank handed him a black jacket that had gray reflector stripes on the sleeves and back. It was lined with brown fleece and looked rather warm.

Connor put it on quickly, stopped when Hank handed him a pair of black boots. They were at least one size too big, but Connor didn’t care, he wanted to stop being cold. It was a horrible sensation. Quickly he slipped into the boots, had tied the laces in no time and almost flinched back when Hank wrapped a gray scarf around his neck. It was unexpectedly soft. Almost like Sumo’s fur. A matching hat was placed on his head and he was handed a pair of gloves.

“Cole didn’t like bright colors, is a little big on you.” Hank smiled at him, but Connor could see the glimpse of sadness in his eyes. “Never thought I’d ever see anyone wear this again.”

Connor flinched at his words and he started undoing the scarf when Hank shook his head and grasped his hands. “No. Leave it on. You’re cold, this is all I have. Cole always shared his stuff with friends. He wouldn’t mind.”

“…I don’t want to become a replacement for him, Hank.” Connor muttered, staring directly into Hanks eyes to make his point clear. “I will never be a child, and I can’t ever be a friend of someone I will never meet.”

“Kid,” Hank muttered as he gripped the hem of the jacket and locked the zipper into place to pull it up. “No one can replace Cole. Not even you. Cole’d have loved a younger brother.”

Connor involuntarily rolled his eyes. “Hank my age cannot be measured in human years. I am barely five months old. Human children at this age can’t even speak.”

Hank laughed silently and patted his friend’s shoulder. “I know. Sorry for being like this. It’s a dad thing. Let’s go.”

“Was there an ulterior motive in moving me to a child model?” Connor asked with a raised eyebrow. It was barely visible under the big hat and for a moment Hank wondered if Cole had been tall for his age.

“Nah, Cindy only said she had a body, not what kind. Had no idea it would be a kid, so don’t blame me for that.”

Instead of replying Connor just turned around and headed back down the hall to find Sumo’s leash. Hank found him quickly, standing under the shelf the leash rested on. He android stood on his toes, body against the walls as he tried to reach the shelf. He was a hair too short.

Hank grabbed the leash and gave it to him, chose to ignore the glare Connor shot into his direction.

“I would have-“

“Sure.”

“I am capable of finding solutions, Hank!”

Hank sighed for what felt like the hundredth time and turned around to put his shoes on. Sumo was already with them, the sound of the leash had lured him over.

“It’s been a long day… I need time to get used to this.”

Connor turned away from him and hooked the leash onto Sumo’s collar. He had ripped the door open and was out of the house before Hank had even put his jacket on. The older man needed a few seconds to catch up to the boy, but he spotted Sumo easily in the dark. The white fur almost glowed.

“Connor… wait.”

The android had the leash clutched firmly in his hands, gaze straight ahead and devoid of any emotion. He continued walking without even acknowledging his friend.

“I know you’re mad about it… But what do you want me to do?”

“We don’t know when or if we find a new RK800 unit. They were all destroyed. The RK900 is compatible in some ways but not all. If I get used to the YK500… my processor will become incapable of being in a unit that does not have the YK500 system.”

Hank frowned. “You mean…. If this takes too long you can’t be put back?”

“Precisely.”

“Is that why you’re in such a foul mood?” Hank tried to joke, but it fell flat.

Connor gripped his jacket as he tensed up and held his breath for a second. “…I will lose my purpose if that happens…” he whispered. “I’m already useless… You had to dress me.”

Hank resisted another urge to sigh. “It’s a human… instinct.” Hank tried to explain, winced when Connor stared at him again. “When a human sees a child… they just want to protect it. Okay?”

“Not okay.” Connor muttered and focused back onto the sidewalk. “I haven’t changed. Don’t treat me differently.”

“Fine. Cut me some slack. Last kid I had I kinda lost, you know?”

“Hank?” Connor looked up at him, eyes wide mouth slightly open.

Hank shrugged at him and stopped when they reached a small convenience store. It was empty, save for the cashier and two other customers.

“You wanted to go here?”

“Yeah.”

Connor tied Sumo’s leash to a pole at the store and brushed his hand through the soft fur. Hank had already taken a cart and walked into the building, closely followed by Connor who found that he now had to walk significantly faster to keep up with his partner.

The warmth in the store made him realize how cold he had been. There was nothing good about the whole situation, from the loss of most of his advanced sensors, over to the addition of useless functions, to the loss of his purpose. The glitches and bugs in the body didn’t make this any better. He had lived through a lot in his short life, but in comparison, this was so far the worst experience. Only behind falling off a 70-story building.

“You coming?” Hank’s voice ripped him out of his thoughts and he followed the older man through the store.

It wasn’t often that he was here, mostly only to run errands for Hank, or to buy dog food. The shelves were towering over him. Everything seemed too high to reach. The few people who were in the store didn’t seem to take note of him at all and he had to jump out of the way of two women who were laughing at something displayed on their phone.

Without realizing it Connor had squeezed himself into the space between the cart and Hank’s legs, irrationally terrified. There was no reason to be afraid of the situation, and yet his body had signaled him that he was in danger and needed to escape.

“You good?” Hank asked him as he put two brightly colored packs of cereals into the cart.

“…. This size is inconvenient.” Connor muttered and peaked out from his hiding place to make sure there were no other people that could run into him. “Do they not see smaller people?”

“They don’t notice a lot of things.” Hank let go of the cart and took a step back. “I have an idea. Let me pick you up.”

“No.” Connor insisted. “There is no reason to carry me.”

The lieutenant laughed and picked him up anyway. Connor was about to protest when he was let down again and found himself inside the cart.

“There. Now sit down and enjoy the ride.”

The frown returned to Connor’s face and he crossed his arms. “I thought I understood humans. I was wrong.”

“You’ve got a lot to learn kid.”

Half an hour later they were back home. Connor struggles to get out of the jacket and shoes as fast as he could, didn’t even bother to put them into their places when he raced into the bathroom and slammed the door shut.

Hank lifted an eyebrow but didn’t question it and now finally made the hot chocolate he had planned on doing ever since Connor had snapped like that. When Connor returned to the kitchen, he seemed unusually silent, distant. Lost in thought.

Hank put the hot beverage on the table and filled the top with marshmallows and colored sprinkles. “Here.”

“For me?”

Hank nodded. “Try it.”

Connor climbed onto the chair and stared at the mug. It was dark blue and had goldfish on it. The android found himself starting at the hand painted animals and tried to run a search on the manufacturer when he remembered that in this body he couldn’t even use his phone as a proxy connection. He was utterly cut off from anything online if he didn’t use the device directly.

Slowly he brought the cup to his lips, hesitated. “Hank… Are you absolutely sure this is safe?”

“You’ve already ate a cookie, this can’t be any worse.”

“I cannot scan the contents.”

“I know it doesn’t seem that way, but I know how to cook, kid.”

Connor squeezed his eyes shut as he nipped at the hot chocolate, shoulders up to his ears as if he expected something to jump at him.

Seconds passed, the he slowly opened his eyes and relaxed. “…I need time to get used to this… it is warm… thank you.”

Hank smirked. “See, being a kid isn’t that hard.”

“I am _not_ a child, Hank.” Connor hissed.

The lieutenant brought his hands up in defense. “Fowler wants us in tomorrow… Convince the man with five children that you are not in need of protection.”

“I will, Hank. I may have lost my advanced systems, but I did not lose my skills.”

“Yep, and I am sure that killers will take a four-foot boy seriously and confess easily.”

“They will.”

Hank grinned. “What are you gonna do? Be adorable until they give in?”

“Hank! I can still…”

The taller man laughed heartily and shook his head. “Okay, we’ll try that. See how it goes. If it works, that’s good and if it doesn’t you have to accept that.” He suggested.

“You already know how this will go, don’t you?”

Hank rested his elbows on the table and folded his hands as he leaned in. “Kid, Fowler has five children. Chris has a baby, Gavin has a ten-year-old. I had a six-year-old. Ben has two girls, Wilson has a boy. All of us have children, Connor. No one will let you lose on criminals.”

“But why?”

“Because you look like a child.”

“But I am not a child!”

“That isn’t the point.”

“Then what is?!”

Hank hung his shoulders. “Would you let a child on the force?”

“Hank my processor is still the same, only my height changed!”

Hank ran a hand over his face and stood. “You don’t get it.”

“Then explain it to me.”

“There is no way you _can_ understand this, Connor. Have you ever felt the fear of losing someone you care about?

Connors face fell at the words, his mouth opened and closed but no words came out. “…Yes…” he whispered, almost missed by Hank.

It was his turn to frown. “Really?”

“…you don’t want to lose me.” Connor muttered, finally understanding what Hank was trying to explain. “I cannot defend myself against stronger enemies. A child on a police force is unheard of… I get it.”

“Fowler may have a job or us. That you would be perfect at in your current state. Even your outbursts would fit.”

The android grimaced. “These _outbursts_ happen because my processor cannot cope with the onslaught of foreign data. It irritates me.”

“Yeah.” Hank smirked and nodded. “Perfect for a fierce little third grader.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wheee~  
> I passed my midterms and now i am on break :D 
> 
> have fun with this chapter, feedback is appreciated, as always :3

Hank had handed him a pair of pajamas and sent him to the bathroom to change and brush his teeth. The android wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He had no idea how to brush teeth, there had never been a need for that and so he chose to change first.

Would Hank call him stupid if he asked how to brush teeth? Would he laugh? Connor didn’t deny the possibility of it being necessary now, but there had never been a need to research the topic. He had no knowledge of it beyond why humans did it.

The fabric of the pajamas was made of terrycloth, dark blue with figures and symbols on them that Connor couldn’t identify. He assumed it was themed after a cartoon. He was halfway into the second sleeve when he suddenly felt dizzy. Stumbling he chose to sit down on the soft rug in front of the bathtub. His eyes were unable to focus until he squinted. Eyelids heavy and everything slowed down. He could barely move.

It was almost like shutting down, like a critical system failure. But he couldn’t find anything wrong. He couldn’t see an error. And yet there was something horribly wrong.

Panic surged through him and tears sprang into his eyes. He had no idea why. Usually fear didn’t immediately turn into panic, usually he didn’t cry. Why now? He couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. And he couldn’t prevent the shaking.

He didn’t hear Hank until the man was in front of him, crouched and frowning. “Connor what happened?” Hanks voice as loud, worried, eyes wide in confusion and surprise.

The android couldn’t utter a single word through the fear that had gripped him. And yet there was nothing wrong he could identify. It felt too familiar to the incident in December. When everything was slipping away from him before he had a chance to do something about it.

Hank investigated the small terrified face and felt as if it stabbed him. He had seen Connor scared, terrified and panicked. It had always hurt and yet seeing it on a face so much younger was like a stab directly into his heart.

“Connor, what’s wrong?” Hank hissed as he griped his shoulders. “Are you hurt?”

Small hands grabbed Hanks shirt, held it in a vice. “H-Hank!” His voice stuttered in panic. “I… I’m-“ He was trembling, words stumbling. “I…. I think I’m shutting down…!” His voice failed, tears dripped over his cheeks and a sob ripped through the deafening silence.

“Fuck!” Hank growled and pulled the trembling android close. “Shit are you overheating again?”

“No…” the word was barely a breath against Hanks shirt.

“What then, what’s wrong, what do you need?” Hank asked, surprisingly calm now that at least overheating was not an issue.

“I don’t know-“ Connor whispered, “…. everything is… slowing down… it’s-“

“Shh.” Hank whispered and picked him up, held him to his chest. “Breathe. I’m calling Cindy.” He tried to reassure as he walked back into the kitchen. He could feel the heart of the android hammer against his chest in absolute terror.

Was it because of the body? Hank had never seen him this terrified.

Connors grip never wavered and Hank ran a hand over his back before he dialed Cindy’s number. “We’ll figure this out. I’m not leaving you alone with this.” He whispered as Cindy picked up.

“Hank… What-“ She stopped short as a barely suppressed sob reached her through the speaker. Connor pressed his face into Hanks shirt, but it did nothing to muffle the sound.

“What happened?” Cindy asked instead. Hank knew from her tone that she was ready to jump into her car and drive down to Detroit.

“Told me he thinks he’s shutting down…”

“Put me on speaker.”

Hank snarled and pressed the button, then placed the phone on the counter and waited.

“Connor? Listen to me.” Cindy asked, voice calm and reassuring. “Access the HUD. Once it’s up, you can see an energy level. What does it say?”

Connor needed few long seconds to finally answer. “twenty-seven…”

“Aha!” Cindy’s smirk was audible. “You two didn’t go through the manual yet, huh? The YK500 simulates the need for sleep, that’s what you’re experiencing.”

Connor whipped around to the phone so fast that Hank almost dropped him. The lieutenant sat him on the counter and frowned.

 “…Are you sure?”

“Yep. You’re just falling asleep.”

A waterfall of fresh tears spilled over Connors cheeks and he clenched his fists as if to punch the device. “I don’t want this! Turn it off!” He screamed at the phone. Voice shrill and panicked.

“Connor, this is a normal function of the body. It’s not dangerous.” Cindy tried to reassure. “It’s meant to simulate a human sleeping pattern… usually you shouldn’t even be aware of it at this level.”

“Turn it off!” He repeated, small hands shaking violently as he reached for the phone. “Don’t make go through this again!”

Hank flinched. Now he understood.

“Again?” Cindy asked. “Connor what are you talking about?”

Hank put a hand on Connor shoulder and picked up the phone again. “I know what this is about…” He muttered. “We’ll talk about this tomorrow…”

The lieutenant sighed and ended the call, then grimaced at the android. “This is about what happened in December, hm?”

Connor pressed his eyes shut, caused new tears to fall with the action and nodded once.

“We never really talked about that.” Hank reminded him. “I think now’s a good time.”

The android shook his head. “No… I-I’ll be okay. I’m sorry for this.“ He muttered and pushed himself off the counter, miscalculated the distance, slipped and bashed his head into the cabinet behind him before Hank could catch him.

A second of deafening silence hung in the air and was destroyed by a shriek that had Hank immediately drop down to his knees to be at Connors height. He’d recognize a sound like that anywhere. Kids had many ways of expressing themselves, but this sound was utter agony and Hank had heard it often enough to react automatically to it.

The android curled up and gripped his head, new tears dripped to the white tiles and his small hands clawed into his hair as he fought for air between gasps and sobs of pain.

“Shit… Let me see.”

Connor had his eyes pressed shut as he slowly sat up again and took a few shaking breaths before he leaned against the cabinets.

“Come on, let go, let me see.”

Slowly the small hands sunk down and Hank leaned in, carefully parted the hair to look for any damage, before he realized what he was doing. Connor had reacted in such a human way to pain that Hank couldn’t help himself.

“All good. Doesn’t bleed.” Hank smiled weakly. “You okay?”

“What was that….?” Connor whispered, voice trembling as bad as his body.

“You bumped your head.”

“But… the sensation- I’ve never-“

“Pain.” Hank scoffed. “Isn’t fun, huh?”

“No…” Connor whispered, leaned forward into Hank’s arms and gripped his shirt. “I just want this to stop…” his voice was only a breath, barely audible.

“Yeah, sucks.” Hank smirked. “You good now?”

The android shook his head. “But I can’t change that…” He struggled out of Hanks grip and stood, swayed for a moment and headed to the couch with swaying steps.

Shoulders and head hanging he scrambled onto the furniture and curled into the blanket, then threw himself into the cushions, face hidden from sight. The dark under the blanket was uncomfortable, he felt cold, his head still _hurt._

The dip in the couch made him flinch. “You really wanna sleep here?”

Connor only nodded.

 “And here I thought I could offer you a real bed to sleep in for once.” Hank scoffed and ran a hand over the android’s back. “If anything happens, you wake me up, okay?”

“Okay…”

“Good night, kid.” Connor felt a heavy Hans squeezing his shoulder for a moment, and he wished it would stay there. It was comforting.

 

 

Hank blinked himself awake when the first rays of sun crawled over the horizon. It took him a moment to realize why, then noticed something shaking and cold next to him. He was about to scold sumo for crawling under the blanket, when he realized it wasn’t the dog.

“Hey,” he whispered and startled the android with it.

Connor froze, held his breath. “Sorry… I-I was cold...”

Hank reached out to touch his hand and grimaced that the icy feel. “Fuck you’re freezing!” Hank hissed and wrapped his arms around his friend to pull him close.

Connor struggled for a moment, stopped when the warmth of the human seeped into him. They rarely hugged, even though Connor considered Hank a close friend. Possibly even his only friend. The others were acquaintances, colleagues.

It felt strange to be hugged, but the welcoming warmth made him forget his thoughts. This was better than sitting on the couch and hoping he would warm up by himself, hoping that his systems could compensate while knowing they wouldn’t be able to. He hadn’t wanted to wake up Sumo and Hank would have gotten up soon anyway.

When Connor woke up again Hank had disappeared. The sun was shining through the curtains, illuminated the freezing morning through the leafless trees. Connor was wrapped up in the blankets in a way he couldn’t possibly have done by himself. It was so warm and soft he didn’t want to get up. Usually he was eager to go to work, finish cases and help with everything he could, now he just wanted to indulge in this sensation.

It was unfamiliar, but he already liked it.

Hank opened the bathroom door and peeked into the bedroom. “Morning.” He greeted the android, yawned loudly and placed a neatly folded outfit onto the bed. “I cranked up the heater a bit. And this should keep you warm for the day.”

Connor slowly crawled out of the warm blankets, immediately shivered at the cold. Why couldn’t this have happened in Summer? Why now?

Hank had given him a dark t-shirt, a light gray hoodie with cartoon figures on them, dark jeans and black socks. Connor wondered how small his frame was when all this clothing was too big for him. Cole had been six when he died. But all these clothes were baggy on Connor and at least one size too big. It was strange and unfamiliar to wear things that weren’t perfectly tailored. At least they were soft and comfortable.

Once he had changed he started thinking about the night. Now in the daylight, things didn’t seem as bad as they had. It was still a major inconvenience, yet it seemed like something he could get used to.

He made his way into the kitchen where Hank was already waiting with breakfast. Connor realized the unpleasant sensation in what would we his stomach now, was most likely hunger. What Hank had made looked like scrambled eggs.

“Listen, Cindy said baby food and all, but I have nothing here. So, you either eat this, or we go out and buy some on the way to the precinct.”

Connor was surprised that he had forgotten about it as well. Perhaps the experience at the grocery store had been too distracting. And Hank seemed to only have the hot chocolate in mind last night. Also, the need for food was still new and unfamiliar. It wasn’t ingrained in his system like other things were.

“I can handle it.” Connor insisted, and the next twenty minutes were spent with Hank teaching him how to use a fork.

He felt stupid. He could handle any gun known to man, but he couldn’t hold a fork properly. It was humiliating.

After that they headed to the precinct. Hank had dug out a car seat and another soft blanket. Connor wondered if Hank had kept all of Cole’s things. It was strangely painful. He was intruding a place that he had never meant to enter, he didn’t want to remind Hank, didn’t want to give Hank reasons to remember Cole. And now he was doing it without wanting to, simply because of his height. He knew better than to ask Hank about it and climbed into the car. Hank made sure the harness was secure and settled down into the driver’s seat.

Connor felt trapped. Frustrated, angry. He had no idea what he was supposed to do about it. He needed to talk to Cindy.

He made it a task to talk to her. That was all he could do.

When they entered the bullpen Chris almost fell off his chair. Ben perked up and even Fowler stood from his chair.

Connor disappeared behind Hank and darted into the breakroom to be out of sight from the curious glances and ran straight into Gavin. The detective almost dropped his coffee cup as he grabbed the boy’s arm to keep him from falling.

“Who’d you run away from, huh?” He asked with a smirk. “You okay?”

The detective looked tired, face pale, dark rings under his eyes. His hair was disheveled, and he was wearing the same outfit as the previous day. Connor concluded that the man had spent the night in the station.

“Gavin…” Connor whispered, stared up at the man who seemed so much taller now.

“Connor?” Gavin took a step back, eyes wide in surprise.

“Where’s Cindy?” He blurted out, already turned to look for her himself.

“Isn’t in yet.” Gavin shrugged. “Probably caught at the border again.”

Connor hung his shoulders and nodded, then turned and left the room, almost ran into Ben, but managed to avoid him at the last second and was already called into Fowler’s office before he had even reached his desk.

Fowler looked at him for a moment, then his expression hardened. “Change of plans.” He crossed his arms and leaned against his desk, faced both of them.

“Wilson and Ben got the drug dealers, you two are investigating something else.”

Connor perked up, but Hank put a hand on his shoulder. “And what is that?”

Fowler sighed. “Cynthia Steward called 30 minutes ago.” He muttered and handed Hank a file.

Hank flipped through the file, frowned. “What happened?” He asked as he skimmed through the two sheets of paper inside. Cindy’s resume, her work and he disciplinary record.

Hank hadn’t been aware she even had one. But the two entries were nothing noteworthy. She had slapped Gavin at some point and the other time she had shouted at Fowler for something. But there was nothing else.

“Arson in a school. Her son is the main suspect.” Flower explained. “She thinks he’s being framed and requested help from us.”

Hank scoffed and handed Connor the file. “Great. Canadian Police can’t do this because?”

“They’re already convinced he’s guilty. They know he’s an android, that makes it difficult to convince them.”

“They’d think we’re bought.”

“Let them. I’ll deal with that.”

Hank sighed and was already on his way to the door when he remembered something else. ”Any news on Connor’s body?”

When Fowler shook his head, Connor grimaced and headed for the door. “Connor, maybe you can help Ryan with this.”

The android nodded and pulled the door open, was out the office and down the few steps before Hank had fully registered it.

“…You okay with this, Hank?” Fowler asked, voice unusually soft.

Hank shrugged. “Still Connor… even when I had to bust out nearly all of Coles clothing.”

“If you want a break, I’ll take him. Sara’d love another kid at the house.”

The lieutenant only nodded. “I’ll think about it.” With that he left the office and went to look for his partner.

He found Connor in the basement, standing next to the charred remains of his body. In direct size comparison, Hank realized just how much the boy had changed. He was barely half as tall as he used to be, but that didn’t really catch his attention.

The burned body was on the floor, a tray with various biocomponents next to it. Hank didn’t need a technician to tell that this body would never function again.

Ryan lifted his head at the second visitor and grimaced with a headshake. His light blue gloves were stained with the dark blue thirium and he paused for a moment to look at Connor.

“You don’t have to look at this, Connor.” He told the android. “Send the log to my terminal, I’ll look at it later.”

Connor showed no signs of having heard the words and when Hank put a hand into Connor’s shoulder, the young android jumped.

“Connor, come on, let’s go.”

He spun around to Hank, eyes wide, face pale, fists clenched, breath fast. His steps unsteady and body swaying, too stubborn to admit it and headed for the door.

He made it up the stairs and to his desk before he dropped to his knees and heaved into the paper bin. Hank had been trailing behind, didn’t know immediately why Ben had jumped from his chair as if something had bitten him and then almost ran over to Connor’s desk. Hank sped up his steps, saw Ben crouched next to Connor, a hand on his back, the other used to steady his small frame.

Hank grimaced and crouched down as well. The boy had brought up his whole breakfast, but no thirium. He was almost relieved.

When Connor leaned back against Ben, the detective used a tissue to wipe his face and threw it into the bin before Hank took it away to clear it out.

Hank returned a few minutes later to Connor sitting on his desk chair, almost drowned by the furniture. A large white jacket over his trembling shoulders, glass of water in his trembling hands, and the RK900 sitting on the desk, keeping a close eye on the small android.

“Did the sight cause this, or is there something else?” Hank asked, pulled another chair close and sat down on it.

“The sight alleviated the symptoms… The breakfast did not agree with the system, although it was of good quality and no bad ingredients had been used.”

“Cindy did warn us.” Hank shrugged and smirked. “How do you feel?”

“Uncomfortable. I have never before faced a body that used to be mine.”

Hank opened his mouth to argue but was interrupted by the RK900. “The body is a hull. A vessel to house your processor.  You knew this. Otherwise you wouldn’t have trusted an untrained human with your most delicate system.”

Connor only nodded and put the glass on the table, then gave the taller android the white jacket and hopped off the chair.

“We should investigate Cindy’s case now.”

Two hours later they sat at Cindy’s dining table. There was a baby in a highchair and an android sitting across from Connor. Cindy’s husband nowhere in sight. Cindy was in the kitchen, preparing food for her baby.

Avery had green eyes, like Cindy, light brown hair, freckles. Connor wondered if Avery had always looked like that or if his look had been altered to fit into the family.

Their eyes locked for a moment, then Avery’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t scan me, I’ve done nothing wrong.”

Connor lifted an eyebrow. “I didn’t-“

“I know who you are.” Avery hissed at him. “Deviant hunter.” The words were venomous, filled with hatred.

“Hey!” Hank hissed at the boy.

“Avery!” Cindy snarled. “If you didn’t do it then don’t act like you have something to hide!”

The boy glared at her, eyes narrowing. “I didn’t do it, mom!”

“He’s telling the truth.” Connor stated firmly at Hank and Cindy, then snapped his gaze into Avery’s direction. “I have made mistakes in the past. If you don’t want to trust in my abilities, we’ll leave and won’t bother you again. You will then be framed as the arsonist and consequences will be taken.” Connor explained. “You will be taken to the authorities and questioned. Androids in Canada are far and few in between, many are here illegally. Do you want me to tell you what humans do with criminal androids and what that would mean for your family?”

“No…!” Avery hissed, shook his head frantically. “It wasn’t me!”

Hank hid the smirk by sipping his coffee and gave Connor an encouraging grin from behind the counter.

Connor tugged a pencil and a sheet of paper from the stack next to Avery and began writing down.

“Ha!” Cindy grinned. “I knew you’re lefthanded.”

Hank frowned at the action and without looking up Connor explained it silently.  “Due to the processor limits in this body, I cannot upload my data to the cloud.”

“You can use my phone?” Hank muttered in confusion.

“I can’t access devices to act as proxy with this body. This is the only way.” Connor muttered without looking at him.

Cindy frowned and came closer with the food for Mathew and settled on her chair.

“Avery Steward, what is your serial number and activation date?”

“Why do you need to know that?”

“This is procedure.” Hank answered instead. “All androids need to answer this. Like a human has to answer with their birthplace and date of birth.”

“928 217 306.” Cindy replied for him. “Activated in December 2037 as Avery Wright-Steward. Processor exchanged in November 2038 from the YK500 to the YK600 due to severe damage to the YK500 unit.”

“Mom!”

Cindy shrugged. “Is my job, kiddo.”

Connor nodded and neatly wrote on the paper, almost like a typewriter. “Do you have any idea who could have framed you?”

“Juliane. She always picks on my friends and she smokes.”

“Do you know her last name?”

Avery shook his head. “She’s in tenth grade and has short black hair, and blue eyes. And she dresses like a witch!”

“Avery…” Cindy sighed.

“Does anyone in your school know that you are an android?” Connor continued to ask, not even taking note of the distractions.

Hank had been smiling the whole time. Or the first time in the past twenty-four hours Connor finally seemed back to normal.

“There’s Avery teachers and the principal who know about it. No one else” Cindy said silently, then narrowed her eyes and starred at her son. “Unless…. Avery told someone.”

“My best friend knows…”

Cindy sighed deeply and ran a hand over her face. “Avery….” She ground the name out as if she had just witnessed something cringeworthy. “We talked about this…”

The boy crossed his arms and glared at his mother. “It’s really hard to keep this secret when you know every single road in the city and never get lost!”

Cindy didn’t reply to that and just kept feeding Mathew. The baby grasped the green plastic spoon and flung the mix of apples and bananas across his highchair and onto the dining table, hitting the edge of Connors paper and his sleeve.

Connor dropped the pencil and jerked back in surprise and Cindy snarled as she reached for the roll of paper towels on the counter behind her.

“Sorry, hon.” She apologized and handed him the paper.

Connor wordlessly wiped his sleeve clean and continued writing. “Hank, we should investigate the school. I want to see the crime scene.”

“Kid, this is Canada. We have no power here.”

“You two could go undercover.” Cindy chuckled and fed anther spoonful to Mathew.

Hank shook his head with a concerned glance at Connor. His eyes practically glowed with anticipation. “We could.”

“I’ll call Fowler.” Hank muttered and stood to get his phone. „But if he says no, it’s no.”


End file.
